There are several ways to locate and repair broken links. This article provides instructions on each of the methods.
How to mark a broken link as Fixed with Content Quality
Log in to your Web Governance account.
Select the domain that you want to work with.
Expand the left menu bar if the options are not visible.
Click Content Quality.
Click Broken Content.
Select Broken Links.
Click Action on the same row as the broken link.
Select Mark as fixed and click Ok on the confirmation prompt.
When to mark a broken link as fixed
Use this option to signal to your colleagues that the issue has been resolved. Use this option:
If you want for the link to be included in subsequent scans. If the error returns, it will appear again in the broken links list after the next scan.
If the broken link is actually fixed by the web team on the HTML code of the webpage.
If the error is confirmed to be a temporary known issue, for example, in an unpublished state.
Issues that you mark as Fixed are still included in future scans and can be flagged again if the error persists.
How to mark a broken link as Ignored with Content Quality
Log in to your Web Governance account.
Select the domain that you want to work with.
Expand the left menu bar if the options are not visible.
Click Content Quality.
Click Broken Content.
Select Broken Links.
Click Action on the same row as the broken link.
Select Mark as ignored. This instructs the scan to ignore this broken link in future scans.
When to mark a broken link as ignored
Use this option:
For link that are marked as broken when it is not.
If you need to ignore a broken link on a single-page basis.
Note
Ignored issues are not acknowledged by future scans. This permanently affects the compliance score, and can damage the score if the link is an actual broken link.
How to repair a broken link with PageCorrect
This section provides instructions on how to findand repair broken links with PageCorrect.
Log in to your Web Governance account.
Select the domain that you want to work with.
Expand the left menu bar if the options are not visible.
Click PageCorrect.
Select the Links tab.
Click Action on the same row as the link that you want to work with.
Select Update from the expanded menu.
Select Remove if you know the link is correct and the error occurred due to, for example, a server outage at the time of the last scan. If the error persists, the system flags it again on the next scan.
Enter the correct URL in the field provided. The URL must start with a protocol such as http://.
Note
All links that lead to the same destination are listed. The first five are displayed. If there are more than five, the full number of URLs is displayed. Click the number to expand them.
Click Save. This fixes the broken link in all instances throughout the website.
Important
PageCorrect shows your corrections to visitors. However, you must also correct the issue in the page code to make the change permanent.
For more information, visit the PageCorrect documentation collection.
How to handle a broken link with Prioritized Pages
List broken links, Ignore a link, or mark a link as Fixed with the Prioritized Pages module.
Log in to your Web Governance account.
Select the domain that you want to work with.
Expand the left menu bar if the options are not visible.
Click Prioritized Pages.
Click the number in the Notifications column on the same row as the domain you want to work with. The menu expands with a breakdown of the notifications per category.
Click Broken links.
Click Action on the same row as the link you want to fix. The menu expands with the following options:
Set to Fixed: Use this option when the issue is fixed on the CMS/HTML code of the website. Items that are marked as fixed are included in future scans.
Mark as Ignored: Use this option if link is incorrectly marked as broken.
Notes
The following is the crucial difference between the issues that you mark as fixed and issues that you mark as ignore:
Issues that are marked as fixed are flagged upon future scans
Issues that are set to ignore are permanently omitted from future scans and future compliance score calculations, as long as the link gives the same broken error.
For more information, read the Prioritized pages document collection.
How to handle a broken link with the Web Browser Extension
Find broken links and their location, Ignore a link, or mark a link as Fixed with the web browser extension.
Open the website and start the Web Browser Extension.
Click to select Content Issues (insect icon) on the web browser extension toolbar.
It is sometimes necessary to set up a policy to tell the scan how to handle special or troublesome links. There are several pre-made links policies that you can use.
There are several ways to locate and repair broken links. This article provides instructions on each of the methods.
How to mark a broken link as Fixed with Content Quality
Log in to your Web Governance account.
Select the domain that you want to work with.
Expand the left menu bar if the options are not visible.
Click Content Quality.
Click Broken Content.
Select Broken Links.
Click Action on the same row as the broken link.
Select Mark as fixed and click Ok on the confirmation prompt.
When to mark a broken link as fixed
Use this option to signal to your colleagues that the issue has been resolved. Use this option:
If you want for the link to be included in subsequent scans. If the error returns, it will appear again in the broken links list after the next scan.
If the broken link is actually fixed by the web team on the HTML code of the webpage.
If the error is confirmed to be a temporary known issue, for example, in an unpublished state.
Issues that you mark as Fixed are still included in future scans and can be flagged again if the error persists.
How to mark a broken link as Ignored with Content Quality
Log in to your Web Governance account.
Select the domain that you want to work with.
Expand the left menu bar if the options are not visible.
Click Content Quality.
Click Broken Content.
Select Broken Links.
Click Action on the same row as the broken link.
Select Mark as ignored. This instructs the scan to ignore this broken link in future scans.
When to mark a broken link as ignored
Use this option:
For link that are marked as broken when it is not.
If you need to ignore a broken link on a single-page basis.
Note
Ignored issues are not acknowledged by future scans. This permanently affects the compliance score, and can damage the score if the link is an actual broken link.
How to repair a broken link with PageCorrect
This section provides instructions on how to findand repair broken links with PageCorrect.
Log in to your Web Governance account.
Select the domain that you want to work with.
Expand the left menu bar if the options are not visible.
Click PageCorrect.
Select the Links tab.
Click Action on the same row as the link that you want to work with.
Select Update from the expanded menu.
Select Remove if you know the link is correct and the error occurred due to, for example, a server outage at the time of the last scan. If the error persists, the system flags it again on the next scan.
Enter the correct URL in the field provided. The URL must start with a protocol such as http://.
Note
All links that lead to the same destination are listed. The first five are displayed. If there are more than five, the full number of URLs is displayed. Click the number to expand them.
Click Save. This fixes the broken link in all instances throughout the website.
Important
PageCorrect shows your corrections to visitors. However, you must also correct the issue in the page code to make the change permanent.
For more information, visit the PageCorrect documentation collection.
How to handle a broken link with Prioritized Pages
List broken links, Ignore a link, or mark a link as Fixed with the Prioritized Pages module.
Log in to your Web Governance account.
Select the domain that you want to work with.
Expand the left menu bar if the options are not visible.
Click Prioritized Pages.
Click the number in the Notifications column on the same row as the domain you want to work with. The menu expands with a breakdown of the notifications per category.
Click Broken links.
Click Action on the same row as the link you want to fix. The menu expands with the following options:
Set to Fixed: Use this option when the issue is fixed on the CMS/HTML code of the website. Items that are marked as fixed are included in future scans.
Mark as Ignored: Use this option if link is incorrectly marked as broken.
Notes
The following is the crucial difference between the issues that you mark as fixed and issues that you mark as ignore:
Issues that are marked as fixed are flagged upon future scans
Issues that are set to ignore are permanently omitted from future scans and future compliance score calculations, as long as the link gives the same broken error.
For more information, read the Prioritized pages document collection.
How to handle a broken link with the Web Browser Extension
Find broken links and their location, Ignore a link, or mark a link as Fixed with the web browser extension.
Open the website and start the Web Browser Extension.
Click to select Content Issues (insect icon) on the web browser extension toolbar.
It is sometimes necessary to set up a policy to tell the scan how to handle special or troublesome links. There are several pre-made links policies that you can use.
Make a note of the word and the location on the page and instruct the appropriate team to fix the broken link in the HTML code for the page.
Ignored links are displayed on the scan again if the status of the link changes. For example, a link previously marked as broken with a 404 status and ignored is reset if the link later receives a new "Ok" status, such as 200. If the same link starts to return a 404 error in the future, it is displayed on the broken links report again.
Select Inspect page with browser extension (Magnifying glass icon): Click to navigate to the Web Browser Extension view of the page, where it is possible to fix the highlighted link. Skip to Web Browser Extension instructions.
Click the arrow to expand the menu further. The issues list opens.
Click See Issues in the Broken Links / Broken Images section.
Mark as Fixed (checkmark icon): Click to mark the issue as fixed. Do this when the issue is fixed on the CMS/HTML code of the website. Items that are marked as fixed are included in future scans.
Mark as Ignored (eye with a line through it icon): Do this when the link is not broken, but flagged by the scan for an unknown reason.
Notes
The following is the crucial difference between the issues that you mark as fixed and issues that you mark as ignore:
Issues that are marked as fixed are flagged upon future scans
Issues that are set to ignore are permanently omitted from future scans and future compliance score calculations, as long as the link gives the same broken error.
Ignored links are displayed on the scan again if the status of the link changes. For example, a link previously marked as broken with a 404 status and ignored is reset if the link later receives a new "Ok" status, such as 200. If the same link starts to return a 404 error in the future, it is displayed on the broken links report again.
HTML (</> icon): Click to view the location of the broken link within the page HTML code.
Tip: Send this to the web development team, so that they can quickly find and repair the error within the HTML code.
Highlight (magnifying glass icon): Click to view the location of the broken link on the page.
The page view scrolls to the location of the link and the broken link is highlighted.
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Make a note of the word and the location on the page and instruct the appropriate team to fix the broken link in the HTML code for the page.
Ignored links are displayed on the scan again if the status of the link changes. For example, a link previously marked as broken with a 404 status and ignored is reset if the link later receives a new "Ok" status, such as 200. If the same link starts to return a 404 error in the future, it is displayed on the broken links report again.
Select Inspect page with browser extension (Magnifying glass icon): Click to navigate to the Web Browser Extension view of the page, where it is possible to fix the highlighted link. Skip to Web Browser Extension instructions.
Click the arrow to expand the menu further. The issues list opens.
Click See Issues in the Broken Links / Broken Images section.
Mark as Fixed (checkmark icon): Click to mark the issue as fixed. Do this when the issue is fixed on the CMS/HTML code of the website. Items that are marked as fixed are included in future scans.
Mark as Ignored (eye with a line through it icon): Do this when the link is not broken, but flagged by the scan for an unknown reason.
Notes
The following is the crucial difference between the issues that you mark as fixed and issues that you mark as ignore:
Issues that are marked as fixed are flagged upon future scans
Issues that are set to ignore are permanently omitted from future scans and future compliance score calculations, as long as the link gives the same broken error.
Ignored links are displayed on the scan again if the status of the link changes. For example, a link previously marked as broken with a 404 status and ignored is reset if the link later receives a new "Ok" status, such as 200. If the same link starts to return a 404 error in the future, it is displayed on the broken links report again.
Web Governance